Member Article

Four Housing donates furniture to community initiatives

A HANDYPERSON service on the move has used the opportunity to donate its excess furniture to community and voluntary agencies across Country Durham, as part of its ethos to help people in the region.

Following an office relocation, Four Housing’s County Durham Handyperson Service has redistributed surplus office furniture to benefit seven charitable organisations from across County Durham.

The donation has been able to assist a range of organisations who were in need of new office furniture including Citizens Advice County Durham, Relate, Belmont Community Association, SAFFA, Prince Bishops Community Bank, Willow Burn Hospice and Hamsterley Community Association.

Four Housing’s County Durham Handyperson Service works across the area providing practical help and advice to customers who are over 60, disabled, at high risk of falling or vulnerable in other ways. The service aims to support customers to live independently, safely and comfortably in their own homes. The service takes self-referrals from the general public and referrals from a range of social care and health professionals.

Not-for-profit housing provider Four Housing, who run the handyperson service, called upon the work of Durham Community Action Group to assist in networking with voluntary and community members to source suitable recipients for the furniture.

As a result of the donation, Citizens Advice County Durham has been able to update its site with office furniture, including meeting chairs and desks.

Nicole Shields, senior finance and resource officer at Citizens Advice County Durham, said: “Our office was in need of an overhaul and we’ve been able to update it with a range of quality office furniture to create a great working environment for staff.

“The donation has proved to be really cost-effective for Citizens Advice County Durham as without it, we would have had to dip into our charitable funding.”

Stephen Errington, Four Housing’s care and repair handyperson manager, who helped to facilitate the donation, said: “We’re thrilled our contribution has helped Citizens Advice County Durham and other companies in the region save much needed funds and we’ve been able to continue the Handyperson ethos of supporting people across County Durham.”

If you would like to volunteer at Citizens Advice County Durham please contact Sarah Ward on 0191 372 6705.

For more information about Four Housing, visit: www.fourhousing.co.uk

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Narrative Integrated Communications .